The Dragon Hunter and the Mage (43 page)

Chapter 17

Sabium waved Fadan inside with his usual, suspicious frown. The old man never really worried himself with making the Prince feel welcome.

“Did you burn the book?” Sabium asked, shutting the door behind him.

The Prince nodded his confirmation. “It’s done,” he replied. “I even took the opportunity to practice the fire spell.”

“Good.” That seemed to relax the old Mage a bit. “You never know what sort of magic could be attached to that book.”

“There was no Glowstone on the book though, master,” Fadan said. “I checked.”

“You can’t know that. Glowstone can be powdered and hidden just about anywhere.” He moved to his desk and sat down.

“Ah, clever,” Fadan said. “And fire can destroy Glowstone?”

“High temperatures will render the crystals useless, yes,” Sabium explained. “If the book has burned, it is no longer a threat.”

“I see. But I still don’t get what makes these people so dangerous.”

“They’re fanatics,” Sabium replied. “That’s what makes them so dangerous.”

“So what? Who cares what they worship?”

“You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Sabium argued, opening one of the books piled in front of him.

“Because you haven’t explained it to me!” Fadan said. “I know next to nothing about the Academy. How am I supposed to know anything about their creepy cousins?”

“I don’t really have the time right now,” Sabium muttered, his eyes scanning the pages in front of him. “You really think you found that book just by chance? It was
planted
for you to find it and I need to figure out why.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, master. Even
I
didn’t know I had the Talent when me and Aric stumbled into the book. And even then, I couldn’t make any sense of it.”

Sabium raised his head from the book. “I find it very hard to believe that a member of the Circle would just ‘forget’ one of their forbidden books in the Imperial Palace. In fact, what would an Archon even be doing in the Citadel in the first place?”

“A what?” Fadan asked.

“Archon,” Sabium repeated, returning to his study. “It’s what they call themselves. They despise the term Mage. For them, it is a synonym for heretic.”

“It doesn’t make sense. How can these… ‘Archons’ be such a big secret?” Fadan asked. “I mean, who else knows about them? Does my father? Because if they’re dangerous–”

“He probably does not,” Sabium said, cutting Fadan off. “The Circle’s existence was a very well-kept secret. By both the Circle
and
the Academy.”

“Why would the Academy keep them secret?”

“The Circle was born inside the Academy,” Sabium replied. “They were Mages who felt Magic was a gift from the gods, so they searched for answers among the sacred texts. They were obsessed with excavations of holy sites and relics. They shunned the Academy’s scientific pursuit of knowledge. Their vision for the magical community was of a religious order, not a place of learning. There was a divide, and eventually, they were cast out. They became an embarrassment, but were not seen as a threat.”

“Wait,” Fadan said. “Before, you were saying they
are
dangerous. But now you’re sayin
g‒
”

“Because they always
were
a threat!” Sabium interrupted heatedly. “They just weren’t seen as one because of their relatively small size. It is always easier to pretend like a problem doesn’t exist instead of facing it and fixing it. Especially if that problem makes sure to remain out of sight, which is what they did for centuries. The problem, young Prince, is that the world has changed. The Mages are gone. Your father got rid of them. Which means there’s no one left to keep the Circle in check.” Sabium massaged his temples, his eyes closed. “It’s only a matter of time before their agenda comes crashing down on the rest of us, because believe me. What the Circle of Archons wants involves us all.” 

“Which is?” Fadan asked.

Sabium sighed, reopening his eyes. “This is a matter for old Mages, not young Princes. I need to do some research. In the meantime, you can practice.”

“You want to me to just stand back here and practice all by myself?”

“No, Goddess, not
here
,” Sabium said. “You’ll distract me. Get back to your Palace. Practice there.”

“I just came from the Palace,” Fadan said.

“I know,” Sabium told him. “Now go back.”

The Prince exhaled impatiently, placing his hands on his hips, but eventually turned, cursing beneath his breath, and left for the apartment door.

“And young Prince?” Sabium called.

Fadan turned to his master.

“Try not to lose an arm, please.”

A group of five maids twirled back and forth around the Empress like butterflies competing for a flower. A couple of the maids focused on turning Cassia’s dark hair into luscious, thick curls. A third maid played with shades of pink on the Empress’ lips and cheeks. A fourth one fixed every small imperfection of the dress while the fifth and last maid sprayed delicate puffs of perfume around Cassia.

Venia found the ritual almost beautiful. She watched it from across the room, her hands crossed in front of her. The Akhami Castellan, Sagun, stood beside her, nodding his approval.

“Excellent,” he said as the last touches were applied. “The Emperor shall be pleased.”

Venia saw Cassia inspect herself in the mirror, but she knew the Empress was only pretending to care how she looked like. If it had been up to her, Cassia would have gone to dinner every night looking like a beggar from the Docks.

“It will do,” Cassia said.

Venia had always found it spectacularly impressive how, despite her humiliating condition, the Empress always maintained a regal bearing around others. She had seen the Empress’ mask slip, of course, but that was because Cassia trusted her. In public, however, the woman somehow always found the strength to not falter, especially around her children.

Venia hadn’t always been loyal to Cassia, of course. She had originally been placed among the Empress’ maids to spy on her. However, it hadn’t taken Venia long to become a double agent. Cassia hadn’t been surprised when Venia revealed herself a spy – the Empress had always suspected that her husband would want to know what she did in private – but she did become tremendously grateful. Venia didn’t just feed the Emperor with fake reports, she was also Cassia’s eyes and hands, making it possible for the Empress to do things Tarsus forbade her to even imagine.

Lately, however, even Venia hadn’t been able to maintain what was left of the Empress’ world from falling apart. As if the poor woman hadn’t been through enough as it were.

“I’ll be down momentarily,” Cassia said. “You may all go. Except Venia. I want you to help me with my shoes.”

“Yes, your majesty,” the spy said, lowering her head.

Cassia received a curtsy from the other maids and a bow from Sagun, after which the Castellan shooed the maids out of the room, leaving after them and closing the door behind him.

The Empress exhaled with disgust, her whole body deflating slightly. “You have news?” she asked, heading for a chair.  

Venia cleared her throat. “I do, your majesty.”

“What is it?” Cassia asked, sitting down and grabbing a pair of shoes.

“I… I found out who’s helping your son,” Venia said.

Cassia slipped her foot into a shoe. “Oh, who is it?”

“Lord Fabian Lagon,” Venia replied. “I saw them chatting last night. In the Empress’ Orchard.”

“Fabian?” the Empress asked, her other shoe dangling in her fingers. “Are you sure it was him? I don’t think he is a spy…”

Venia chuckled. “Trust me, your majesty. He is
.
”

“If you say so,” Cassia replied with a shrug. She slipped on the second shoe and stood up. “Well, let’s go.” She took a deep breath. “My husband awaits.”

The Empress started towards the door, but Venia stopped her. “There’s more.”

Cassia turned. “What is it?”

“I found… something else,” Venia replied.

The Empress frowned. “You’re hesitating… Something bad happened. What is it? Is Fadan alright?”

“He’s fine,” Venia replied, raising a soothing hand. “But I found out something important. Yesterday, I managed to follow your son to his hiding place, here in the Citadel. He is using one of the abandoned Palaces.”

“Using it for what?” Cassia asked.

“It took me some time to figure out which Palace he was in, so by the time I got to it, the Prince was already gone,” Venia said. “However, he left something behind. A bucket, with a book burning inside.”

“What!?” Cassia was thoroughly confused.

“I didn’t bring the book,” Venia said. “I decided it was better not to give him any clue that he’s been discovered. It would prompt him to change his hiding place. I allowed the book to burn so he could find its ashes upon return, but I did discover what the book was about.” Venia took a step forward. “Your majesty, I believe your son possesses the Talent. He is trying to learn magic.”

It usually took Fadan around an hour to go to Sabium’s apartment in the Docks, which meant he spent two hours just
crossing
the city every night he visited his master. Two hours he had completely wasted tonight with his fruitless visit.

He climbed out of the sewage manhole inside the Citadel and studied the night sky. He hadn’t exactly left early for Sabium’s, which meant it had to be really late. For a moment, he considered calling it a night and taking the opportunity for a few hours of sleep, but he quickly dismissed the thought. He couldn’t let an entire night go wasted. Not when he had been making so little progress.

Pushing back a yawn, Fadan started towards the Palace. He was going to spend a few hours practicing if he could remain awake. Usually, the empty Palace was where he did his practicing sessions, but he felt like his own room was a better idea this time. His plan was to attempt the wall traversing spell, which wasn’t entirely safe to do on his own. Being somewhere where he could cry for help in case something went wrong seemed like a prudent idea. Besides, it was a silent spell that made no noise or flashes of light. It should be safe enough to practice in his bedroom.

Fadan strode through the usual way back to his room, then climbed up to his window. Fabian always kept the way clear of any unwanted eyes. How the old general did it, however, was a complete mystery.

“Alright,” Fadan said to himself, closing the window and pushing his sleeves up. “Let’s work.”

The Prince lit a couple of oil lamps, then double checked the lock on his bedroom door. Still not satisfied, Fadan picked up a chair and fitted its back under the door handle, blocking it from being pushed open.

Satisfied with his security measures, he removed his dark cloak and grabbed a vial of Runium from one of its inner pockets, then downed the metallic red liquid in a single gulp.

He felt the familiar, burning sensation, quickly offset by the Transmogaphon around his neck. Breathing small blue puffs, Fadan tested his powers. It was a small ritual Sabium had taught him that helped him adapt his mindset. The idea was to teach his brain to switch from regular life rules to magic rules. From that moment on, anything was possible.